


I promise I will win

by ElaineGaron



Category: Free!
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 13:20:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8753167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElaineGaron/pseuds/ElaineGaron
Summary: Rin, after a check-up at the local hospital, meets Damon, a thirteen year old boy who is preparing for death. His last wish is to swim in the ocean once in his lifetime, but no one wants to grant him this wish. Rin decides to break the rules to make the other happy. Rin in Australia One-Shot. Character death (OC). OC involved, no romance.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I felt like starting this account off by sharing one of my favourite stories I wrote so far! It was a short one-shot and the only time I did anything for this fandom.   
> I'm sure there's tons of mistakes in there as it never was beta'd but it's so old, I didn't want to correct it because I would have changed it up too much. It also was written before the second season or the movie so it will be slightly off at times. But I didn't want to change it completely to fit with the newly added plot, that would have taken away from it.
> 
> It's nothing special and I can't wait to share what I'm really working on with all of you :)

_Rin walked down the hallway. He hated hospitals but they were required to do a check once a month. With sigh he was about to leave the building when he heard a voice behind him._

_“But I want to go out! I haven’t been out in months! Just this once! Please!” It was a young boy’s voice and he couldn’t help turning around. A young boy in a hospital gown was sitting in a wheelchair, a nurse talking silently to the child as he looked at her, tears clearly shimmering in the artificial light as he was pushed inside a room._

_The young teen couldn’t help becoming curious. He waited until the nurse left and only muffled sobs and the beeping of some machines could be heard from the room before carefully moving closer, peeking inside. There was only a small form on the bed, clearly the child he had seen before, and a lot of machines his body was connected to._

_Rin carefully opened the door, sliding inside the room before anyone could notice and closed the door again. He moved up to the bed, looking at the boy. He was blonde, a soft color actually. His skin was pale, nearly translucent and his eyes. He had a slim, small built, looking like someone who never did sport. But what really caught his attention was the pale skin. He had not met anyone as pale as this boy since he had come to Australia a year ago._

_“Why are you crying?” he suddenly asked, the boy turning around, looking around in confusion before his gaze settled upon the boy and his head tilted slightly before he smiled._

_“Hello,” the pale boy whispered as Rin moved closer, looking at the machines connected to his body. “I’m Damon. What’s your name?”_

_Rin looked up as if he were pulled out of a trance. “Huh? I’m Rin!” He smiled broadly before his smile faltered and he looked down. “Why are you connected to all this machines?” He asked, softly tapping one of the tubes leading into the other’s body._

_“I would die without them. My body is very weak; my organs would just give out if I weren’t connected to this thing. I can only spend an hour or two without the machines before they’d give out.” Damon still smiled, happy he got to talk to someone._

_“So you have to be here all the time? That sucks, doesn’t it?” Rin now stood beside the bed, looking once again at the pale skin and the blood vessels visible under it._

_“Yes but I really want to leave, even if it might kill me. I hate being here. My family rarely visits me and most of the time I am alone.”_

_Rin did not hesitate for a second. “I could visit you! I only have school until noon every day since we practice in the evenings when it’s cooler outside!”_

_Damon’s face lit up as he smiled happily. “You really would want to visit me?!” He had not felt such joy in a long time, Rin could clearly see it. He nodded and smiled at him.  
“Yes. It’s no fun to always be alone after all.”_

_Damon smiled as if he had seen the sun for the first time, happy he would finally not be alone anymore. If this boy kept his word he’d have a happy few weeks left._

_Rin sat on the bed beside the other, looking down at him. “Why are your organs so weak that they’d give out?”_

_“I don’t know. It has always been like this. I recently collapsed. They give me a few more weeks at most. But I don’t want to die. I haven’t even been able to swim in the ocean yet. It’s the only thing I want before I die. But my wish will never be granted…” he sighed, looking out of the small, far away window. “You said something about practice before? What are you doing? You aren’t from around here, right?”_

_Rin shook his head, wishing he could grant the other his wish. “No, I’m from Japan. I’m a swimmer. I came here to go to a special school for swimmers like me. We practice in the evening to reduce the risks of a heart attack when we jump in the water.”_

_“Swimming sounds wonderful. You need to tell me more about it.”_

_Time was passing quickly. Rin visited Damon every single day. They would play together and enjoy themselves. Damon would be allowed to watch Rin’s check-ups and Rin soon was known by the nurses taking care of Damon. The would always smile sweetly and greet him nicely as they were happy someone was taking care of the child that used to wither away._

_Damon, although his condition partly worsened, also started becoming better again. There was life in his eyes again and he had regained his spirit to fight. And he smiled again, something the nurses had not seen for a long time._

_It had been three weeks since the boys had met. Rin was talking to Damon about swimming at home in Japan when it happened._

_“There’s this one boy with an incredible talent. I haven’t managed to beat him yet but I promise I will.” Rin smiled slightly as he told the story of how he had lost against Haruka  while he was home in Japan._

_“You’ll do great next time you see him! No one is faster than you! You are the best swimmer I have ever seen! Better than those on TV!” Damon smiled happily, loving the stories Rin could tell him from outside the hospital._

_Neither of the boys were really paying attention to the steady sounds of the machines in the room any longer, but suddenly Rin felt his head snap up, staring at the screen. “Damon?!” He shouted, just in time to see his back arch for a moment, his mouth opened. Without hesitating, Rin called for a nurse._

_He was ushered outside, tears in his eyes. Was it truly over already? Was he going to lose the one friend he had made here already?_

_“Rin? Come here boy, he’s fine now. His heart just struggled a bit but it calmed down again.” His head shot up as he stormed inside, hugging Damon tightly. “But be careful, alright? His body is growing weaker.” The nurse left again and this was when Rin decided._

_“I’m going to take you to the ocean so you can swim there.”_

_Damon , although still weak, smiled at him. “Alright. I can’t wait for it,” he whispered before he fell asleep, too tired to talk much anymore._

_Rin soon left, making sure his heart still was beating when he walked out. The next day would be really exhausting for the other boy but he’d make sure to prepare everything._

_When he returned, he made sure no one was watching. Against Damon’s weak protests, he pulled the tubes from his body before helping him into a wheelchair. “The ocean is only five minutes from here, don’t worry. You’ll be back in no more than an hour. It will be fine.”_

_Rin once again checked that no one was there before he started walking, quickly getting the other outside before he picked him up. “The way isn’t good to drive so I will carry you, alright?” he didn’t even wait, he simply was starting to move, reaching the ocean within a few minutes._

_“No one will know,” He whispered as Damon smiled at him. Rin started walking into the water, making sure to support the other. He carried him for the biggest part until his far too light body started floating. He was still there though, making sure nothing would happen to the other._

_Before either of the boys knew, an hour passed and the first pain began to set in, forcing them to return to the hospital._

_Of course everyone was shocked at their revelation. How dare a simple child take someone who was close to death out and away from their life-saving machines?_

_As Damon was put back, he smiled at Rin, a smile of someone who had found true happiness. It was as if he had seen paradise and Rin knew he was going to leave soon._

_The nurses left and Damon turned to Rin, smiling softly. “Thank you for granting my wish. I will make sure yours will come true too.”_

_Rin didn’t hear the sound of the machine behind him, his eyes scrunched shut as he felt tears run down his cheeks. “I promise I will win the next race against him. I’ll win for you.”_

He placed down a white lily before pulling his jacket on tighter.  He smiled gently, looking at the stone in front of him as he felt some tears run down his cheeks. “I’m going home now… I’m sorry. I don’t want to leave you alone again. It’s my fault, isn’t it? You could have had some more weeks if I hadn’t been so dumb. I’m sorry I took it away from you.” He looked down one last time, tears still streaming down his cheeks.

“I promise, I will win.”


End file.
